The Real Father Christmas
by dolphinz.amazon
Summary: "Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas!" "Who says I'm not, red-bicycle-when-you-were-twelve?" The Doctor is secretly Santa Claus.
1. Praying To Santa

One cold night, a little girl prayed to Santa. She got what she thought was a policeman, though she quickly learned that wasn't the case. The strange man, who called himself the Doctor, left, promising to return in five minutes.

The girl, Amelia Pond, sat outside, waiting for the Doctor. Five minutes later, true to his word, he came. "Doctor!" Amelia screamed, running up to hug the man. She pulled away a few seconds later in confusion. "You're not the Doctor!" she said to the old man.

"I am."

"But it's only been five minutes!"

"For you. For me, it's been much longer than that. You'll see your raggedy man later, but for now you have me. And besides, you did pray to Santa."

"How do you know that?" The Doctor smiled. The child gasped. "You're..."

"Yes, I'm Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas."

"But how..."

"It's a long story."

"You've got a time machine. You have all the time in the world."

The Doctor sighed and smiled. "Fair point. Let's go into your room, and I'll tuck you into bed and tell you all about it."

Amelia nodded. "I like that idea."

They walked into the house, and the Doctor began making hot chocolate. "I'll have you know, as Santa Claus, I'm excellent at making hot chocolate," he said. "I'm sure you're cold from sitting out there so long."

Amelia nodded and took a sip. "Are you still a picky eater?"

"Hm? Oh, no, that was just because I'd just regenerated. I've regenerated again since I last saw you." The Doctor thought for a moment. "Actually, now that you mention food, I'm getting a bit hungry." He made bacon, toast with butter, and beans. He was still hungry after that, so he had yoghurt and an apple.

"I thought you hated all those things?"

"New body, new mouth, new tastes. Now then, get in your jammies, and then it's story time." Amelia obeyed, and soon she was lying in bed, listening to the Doctor's story.

"It started when I was in my ninth regeneration - I'm in my twelfth now - and I'd just rescued a bunch of elves from their home planet before it blew up. I couldn't just set them loose in society, but I didn't know of any uninhabited planets for them to go to, either. And besides, they needed cold temperatures to survive.

"Then I remembered a man I'd met, St. Nicholas. Well, he wasn't officially a saint when I met him, but he became one later. Anyway, he threw bags of gold coins into the shoes and stockings of those who left them out for him. It was a great way to help out people in poverty.

"I decided to do what he'd done, only across the whole world, except with toys and other objects. I had the elves set up a workshop at the North Pole, where they could put their superb manufacturing skills to use. They were a highly advanced civilization. But of course, I still had to find out what people wanted. It was then that I came up with the idea of Santa Claus. 'I need a person for this to be about, someone for the people to focus their attention on,' I said one day at the North Pole.

'Why don't you do it yourself?' one of the elves asked.

'I can't have people stopping to get excited about seeing Father Christmas while I'm trying to save the world, can I?' I explained. I mean, can you imagine the chaos? I can't very well save the world if everyone's stopping to take a picture!

'Father Christmas? That sounds like a good name,' the elf said.

'Yes... now who's going to be Father Christmas?' I wondered. Countless elves raised their hands, but I shook my head. 'It can't be an elf,' I told them, 'you all look the same. No offence.'

"So, I went to visit an old friend who owed me one. I got him to be the figurehead. He's the one people know of as Father Christmas or Santa Claus, but I'm the one who does the real work.

"When we arrived at the North Pole, I explained the setup. For each child, he gets a letter from them, with their name, address, and wish list. He passes it on to me (I stop by periodically), and I use my TARDIS to run background checks to see if he/she is naughty or nice. Naughty children recieve a lump of coal. Nice children recieve at least one of the items on their wish list. If a child is nice, my friend sends the wish list to the elves, who make the gifts. Then, the elves wrap and tag each gift (or lump of coal) with the name and address of the person it belongs to. Every Christmas Eve, I come to take the gifts and deliver them to the right homes. I use the TARDIS to make sure I get everyone in one night."

"That sounds like so much fun!" Amelia said. "Can I come?"

The Doctor sighed and gave a sad smile. "Your future is with your Raggedy Doctor, not with me. You must wait for him."

"But why?" she wailed.

"He needs you. And you need him."

"Please? Just one trip."

The Doctor sighed. He sat in silence for a while, deep in thought. Finally, he spoke. "Some Christmas between now and when your Raggedy Doctor comes for you, I will take you with me to deliver the presents."

The child's face lot up with joy. "Oh, thank you, Santa!" She ran up and hugged him.

"You know, I'm really not a hugging person."

"I don't care," the girl insisted, hugging him tighter. She kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Until next time, Amelia Pond."

"Goodbye, Doctor!"


	2. Red Bicycle When You Were Twelve

_Dear Santa,_

_I am twelve years old. I would like a red bicycle, please. Red is my favorite color. I want a bicycle because I want to travel. I want to see the world. Mum says I can't travel very far with a bicycle, but I don't know how to drive and I'm too young anyway. So a bicycle it is. Thanks!_

_Rose Tyler_

The Doctor read the letter and smiled. Rose seemed like a sweet little girl. He wanted to take her to see the world, the universe even, but not just yet. Maybe when she was older? He did a quick search to see what she'd been up to this year to be sure she made the list.

As he'd suspected, she was a sweet little girl, albeit rather stubborn. All the same, she was definitely on the nice list. The Doctor ordered the elves to make the best bicycle they possibly could ("It has to be absolutely fantastic!"), and that they did. He placed it under the tree with a special note.

_You've been a very good girl, Rose. Of course you can have your bicycle! I told my elves to make a really good one for you. I hope you like it. And I sure hope you get to travel the world. Maybe I can take you for a ride in my sleigh some time- but only if you're really good. See you next year!_

_Santa Claus_

The next day, a little girl jumped for joy and rode her bicycle all around the neighborhood. It wasn't quite a worldwide travel, but it was a good start.


	3. Jack Harkness, Santa, and Glenn Miller

_Dear Santa,_  
><em>I'm probably too old for this, but what the heck, it's not like anyone's gonna stop me.<em> That got the Doctor's attention. He didn't get many adults writing letters to Santa, and he usually tossed them away, but this time, for whatever reason, he decided to keep reading. _It's hard to say exactly what I want for Christmas._ Then why was this person writing? _I'm known as the king of flirting, and I've had lots of relationships, but they never quite seem to work out. I mean, I have fun and all, but it always feels like something's missing._ No. The Doctor didn't do relationship advice. His significant others always ended up dying or disappearing or something, so he didn't feel qualified to give advice. He almost threw the letter away, but something compelled him to keep going. _All I really want is someone to dance to Glenn Miller with._ Wait, Glenn Miller? That sounded familiar. _And maybe some mistletoe, too. I know you probably can't help me, but I figured I'd ask just in case. I'm really lonely. Even if you can't get me a date or anything, you could at least find me someone to spend Christmas with. I don't want to be alone._  
><em>Jack Harkness<em>

The Doctor did a double take. Jack? No, it couldn't be. Maybe there was another Jack Harkness. The Doctor shook his head. Not likely. Well then, he would just have to give the man what he'd asked for.

Jack Harkness was sitting at the bar, when Glenn Miller's "String of Pearls" began to play. A person waltzed over to say hello.  
>"Hey there, doll." Jack turned around to see the Doctor and blushed. "Um, I mean hi, Doctor."<br>"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you blush," the Doctor commented with a smile.  
>Jack shrugged. "So what brings you here?"<br>"What, I can't just come to see you?" Jack raised his eyebrow. "Fine, I'm here to dance." Jack looked at him quizzically. "With you?"  
>Jack looked even more confused. "Why in the universe would you do that?"<br>The Doctor smiled. "You wrote a letter to Santa, did you not?"  
>Jack blushed again, opening his mouth in shock. "You intercepted Santa's mail? That'll put you on the naughty list for years!" The Doctor laughed uproariously. "What's so funny?"<br>"I can't be on the naughty list; I write the naughty list! And it's my job to read Santa's mail; I am Santa!"  
>"You're kidding me!"<br>"Nope!" the Doctor said with a cheerful smile. "Now then, how about that dance?"

They danced to that song and many others, all by Glenn Miller. "How did you get all those on the playlist?"  
>The Doctor shrugged. "The DJ owes me a favor." When the songs were over, the Doctor gave Jack a mischievous look. "Now then, I believe you requested mistletoe?"<br>"You don't have to..."  
>"Ah, but I know you want me to. Don't think I don't notice. I can't say I reciprocate; I love Rose. All the same, I figure you deserve a kiss under the mistletoe."<br>"You'd do that for me?"  
>"Just this once," the Doctor said sternly. He pulled a sprig of mistletoe out from his jacket, and they kissed. It wasn't particularly long or passionate, but Jack loved it all the same. It was sad he knew he never had a chance, but at least he got this.<p>

"So, I understand you're free this Christmas?" Jack nodded. "Well then, I know just the place to take you to."

After eating Christmas dinner at a wonderful restaurant Jack had never been to, they went to a live Glenn Miller concert. "That's the beauty of a time machine: you can experience the past."  
>"Is that how you do it all in one night?" The Doctor nodded.<p>

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said before he dropped Jack off. He pulled out a neatly wrapped present.  
>"But the dance was my present!"<br>"Well, you get another. Go on, open it!"  
>Jack ripped open the present with all the eagerness of a child, but he grew confused when he saw what was inside. "But I already have a vortex manipulator."<br>"Not one like this, you don't. I enhanced it with Time Lord technology. Makes for a smoother ride. It's also more accurate about getting you where it's supposed to. Though I modeled it on the TARDIS, so I'm actually not sure about that last one." They laughed. "Anyway, enjoy the gift. And have a merry Christmas!"  
>"You, too," Jack said, smiling as he walked away. Some days, Santa really loved his job.<p> 


End file.
